WebClawer: Vacuum powered by hamsters; stowaway snake; fish that look like humans?

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From hamsters to snakes, from bees to fish, the Web is full of animal news today:

-- What will they think of next? Technology company iRobot has created the prototype for a robotic, wireless vacuum cleaner -- powered by a hamster. Sensors follow the hamster’s movement as it runs in a spinning ball; the vacuum mimics its direction and speed. NetworkWorld

-- ‘Humanoid’ carp are causing a stir in South Korea, where a Chongju resident’s two 3-foot-long fish have attracted the attention of locals because of their ‘human’ noses, eyes and lips. ‘My fish have been getting more and more human for the past couple of years,’ the man said of the carp, which he said have lived in his backyard pond since 1986. They are thought to be hybrids of two species, the carp and the leather carp. The man says he is aware of other fish with similar features. Sadly (or is it?), the fish can’t produce a future generation of human-featured carp because they’re both female. Telegraph

-- ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ -- a term coined to describe the unexplained disappearances of about 2 million colonies of bees in the U.S. alone -- may not actually exist at all, according to some senior scientists studying the mysterious phenomenon. ‘It’s misleading in the fact that the general public and beekeepers and now even researchers are under the impression that we’ve got some mysterious disorder here in our bees,’ said Dr. Dennis Anderson of the Australian research organization CSIRO. ‘And so researchers around the world are running round trying to find the cause of the disorder -- and there’s absolutely no proof that there’s a disorder there.’ Some experts blame a combination of mite infestations, nutritional deficiencies and pesticides for the disappearances. Another cause could be stress induced by the demands of modern agriculture. ‘My bees are in California pollinating almonds,’ said commercial beekeeper Dave Hackenberg. ‘In the middle of March they are going to be trucked all the way across the United States all the way back to Florida to pollinate oranges then they are trucked another 1,000 miles north to pollinate apples in Pennsylvania.’ BBC

-- A couple visiting South Africa’s Kruger National Park drove more than 100 miles with a venemous spitting cobra in their car. Gordon Parratt, 69, felt something brush his leg while driving but merely brushed at it, thinking it was an insect. When he looked down, he discovered the snake next to his foot. ‘Fortunately I’m not the panicky type. My wife immediately put her feet up on the dashboard,’ Parratt said. After unsuccessfully attempting to remove the snake themselves, they eventually called a snake expert who was able to remove the cobra. AFP

-- North America’s biggest racetrack owner, Magna Entertainment Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection today. The company owns both southern California’s Santa Anita racetrack and Maryland’s Pimlico track, home of the Triple Crown race the Preakness Stakes. Magna chief executive Frank Stronach described the move as ‘a voluntary filing intended to utilize a Chapter 11 process that will allow us to continue to operate the business uninterrupted’ and said he expects the company will continue to pay its employees as normal. Money & Co.

--Lindsay Barnett

Video: iRobotitude via YouTube